At least one person has died in Ecuador after the 6.5 magnitude earthquake on the open Richter scale, which occurred this Saturday in the province of Guayas and was also felt in northern Peru, which has caused several material damages.
According to the Geophysical Institute of the National Polytechnic School, the earthquake occurred at 12:11 local time (17:12 GMT) at 2.78 degrees south latitude and 79.93 degrees west longitude.
The tremor occurred at a depth of 44 kilometers, and 29.12 kilometers from Balao (Guayas), in southwestern Ecuador.
After the first earthquake, another one of magnitude 4.8 occurred at a depth of 24 kilometers, according to the Institute.
The Risk Management Secretariat said that damages are reported in the cantonal center of the Andean city of Cuenca, where the facade of a house collapsed on a vehicle, of which a deceased person is reported.
The quake was felt strongly, even in the Ecuadorian capital, Quito, in the Andean region of the country.
The Geophysical Institute received reports from the population that felt the earthquake in the province of El Oro, on the border with Peru, and also in Loja, as well as on the Manabí coast and in Zamora Chinchipe in the Amazon.
The Oceanographic Institute of the Navy (Inocar) said that the earthquake does not meet the conditions to cause a tsunami.
EFE verified that in the center of the coastal city of Guayaquil some debris fell from old houses.
Shortly after the earthquake occurred, the state oil company Petroecuador observed that it had no records of developments in its facilities. «The protocol for these cases was followed and the operation continues normally,» he said.
The Risk Secretariat noted that no news has been reported at the airports.
fire belt
Ecuador is located in the Pacific Belt or Ring of Firewhich concentrates some of the most important subduction zones (collapse of tectonic plates) in the world and is the scene of strong seismic activity.
In addition to Ecuador, the Belt, which is shaped like a horseshoe, includes other countries such as Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, the United States, and Canada.
On April 16, Ecuador will remember the seventh anniversary of one of the most destructive earthquakes in its recent history, of magnitude 7.8.
This natural phenomenon, which occurred on April 16, 2016, left more than 670 dead, thousands of people affected, as well as millions of material losses.
This earthquake hit the provinces of Esmeraldas (on the border with Colombia) and its neighbor Manabí, both located on the coast of the Andean country, but it also affected other areas and was felt strongly, even in the Ecuadorian capital, Quito, located in the province of Pichincha, in the Andean zone of the country.
EFE